Thunder aim for net gain on back of England's success

With an unprecedented 16,000 supporters roaring them on over three matches, the England netball team made history with a hat-trick of victories against Australia last month.

Watching from the sidelines, Tracey Neville – who never tasted victory against the Aussies in her illustrious international career – was elated to see her beloved sport catapulted, deservedly, into the headlines.

Records were broken with each game. The opening victory in the three-match series was England’s first against the No.1 ranked team in the world since 2010.

Neville, sister of former United footballers Gary and Phil, has performed on the biggest stage having represented her country at two Commonwealth Games and also won a bronze medal, but the current England team has sparked a new era for netball.

Now coach at Manchester Thunder, Neville understands exactly what the whitewash over the Aussies will mean for the sport ahead of the new domestic season.

“The players were amazing under such pressure. They showed real consistency and left Australia a bit shell-shocked after that first game and came back stronger in the rest of the series,” said 36-year-old Neville, whose Thunder side begin the defence of their Super League title at Yorkshire Jets tomorrow.

“There is a lasting legacy now and the win against Australia is the platform for bigger things to come.”

All three matches were shown live on TV – media attention Neville, who is from Bury, believes is long overdue.

“It opened up our sport to a wider audience and a culture where women and girls are inspired to get involved,” she said.

“Netball has got the rewards it deserves.”

Tracey Neville talks to the Northern Thunder squad after being appointed head coach

Thunder captain Sara Bayman goes into tomorrow’s opener fresh from the kind of international duty dreams are made of having played in all three wins over Australia.

“We were in a bubble during the series and it was only after the first win, with all the requests for interviews and the hysteria, that it really sunk in what we had achieved,” said Bayman. “There was a lot of pressure on us to finish the job in the third game, but that drove us on and winning a series against the Aussies is a great feeling.

“The support was amazing and made a difference to our performances. It’s hard to believe that 7,000 people came out to watch us in both Birmingham and London.”

Netball action between Team Bath and Manchester Thunder

Bayman, who works as a development officer for England netball and is based at the National Cycling Centre, affirms that London 2012 ‘woke everyone up’ to the idea that sport was available on their doorstep and netball, despite not being an Olympic sport, can take advantage of that.

“All England players play for a Super League club so, hopefully, the crowds turn out to those games now too,” she said.

“It is just so easy to get into netball, with so many levels of it such as the Back2Netball programme, county level and sessions in schools.”

Despite being defending champions, Neville knows Thunder are in for a tough test tomorrow.

“We have some of our under-18s moving to the senior squad so there is a mix of experience in the team,” she said.

Looking ahead, Neville sees Team Bath, who pipped Thunder to the FastNet Grand Prix title last month, as their main contenders.

“Team Bath have a number of England players so they are the favourites but we plan on building towards the finals with our young players,” she added. “But we will take it one game at a time.”

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